The BEST Raspberry Rolls (video)
The most amazing raspberry cinnamon rolls filled with cream cheese, cinnamon, freeze-dried raspberries and raspberry preserves! These raspberry rolls are super fluffy, moist and loaded with berry flavor, all thanks to my ‘secret ingredient’! Inspired by my famous original ‘Best Cinnamon Rolls’, this is the ultimate brunch and breakfast recipe! Plus, learn how to make these ahead of time so all you need to do is take them out of the fridge and into the oven!
Watch My Video!
Watch my video recipe for my step-by-step video instructions. This recipe is so easy to make! Want to receive new recipe emails in your inbox? Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications!
Yeast Dough for Rolls
These incredible raspberry cinnamon rolls start just like my original recipe – with the incredible soft dough! To have great cinnamon rolls, you need to have a great dough recipe. These rolls are made with a soft yeast dough which includes a significant amount of butter to make it extra soft. In my original recipe, I used bread flour but I have found the recipe works very well with all-purpose flour, too. Start the recipe with the dough as it needs to proof before being rolled, filled and shaped.
How to Make Raspberry Rolls
- Next up, the creamy cream cheese filling! For these raspberry rolls, I wanted to go with a creamy filling reminiscent of cheesecake, so I went with a simple cream cheese filling. It’s made with cream cheese, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and even freshly grated nutmeg. By the way, if you haven’t tried using fresh nutmeg for your baking, you’re seriously missing out! Just get a microplane and whole nutmeg nuts and grate away!
- Raspberry Filling: In addition to the cream cheese, these rolls are stuffed full of raspberry flavor two different ways: raspberry preserves and freeze-dried raspberries. The preserves add both sweetness and berry flavor but you can’t use too much since the jam will come out the sides! Using the freeze-dried raspberries is the solution! Freeze-dried fruit or berries don’t add any extra moisture to the recipe, only loads of flavor! I get mine online on Amazon or in Trader Joe’s. Finish these raspberry cream rolls with a simple glaze and more freeze-dried berries!
The Secret Ingredient for Extra Soft Rolls!
My little secret for making the BEST cinnamon rolls ever? It’s simple – cream! You can also use whole milk or half-and-half (half cream, half milk). I first bake the rolls for 10 minutes, then pour the cream or milk over the rolls and continue baking. This adds incredible moisture to the rolls, making them incredibly fluffy and moist. No more dry rolls for anyone!
Make-Ahead Instructions
This delicious breakfast recipe is super easy to make ahead of time! I get this question very often and here’s how it’s done: prepare the recipe as instructed and shape the rolls. Once the rolls are in the casserole pan, allow them to proof for about 20 minutes and then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap. Place the pan into the refrigerator and keep the rolls chilled for 1 to 3 days, until ready to enjoy. Then when you’re ready to bake them in the morning or whenever, preheat the oven to 350F/177C and continue following the recipe. Easy to do and perfect if you want to have a relaxing breakfast.
More Recipes!
Enjoyed this incredible breakfast recipe? Check out some of my other delicious recipes!
- 3-Ingredient Raspberry Star Twist – the easiest holiday pastry recipe, made with store-bough pastry and raspberry jam twisted into a festive design!
- Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls – the best fall version of cinnamon rolls, filled with apple pie filling!
- Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls – my classic rolls with juicy blueberries on the inside!
- Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls – another delicious variation, with fruity strawberries!
- Bacon, Garlic & Cheddar Rolls – these savory ‘cinnamon rolls’ are filled with bacon bits and garlic butter!
- Lemon Poppy Seed Rolls – perfect for spring and summer! Lemon rolls filled with poppy seeds, topped with a lemon cream cheese icing!
Enjoyed this recipe? Share it on Pinterest!
Supplies/Tools
Need some supplies to make this recipe? You can get them here (Amazon affiliate links):
- Freeze-dried raspberries – perfect for the filling!
- Pyrex Casserole Dishes – these are great for so many recipes!
- Classic wooden rolling pin – never out of style!
- Nesting Glass Mixing Bowls – I use these in all my videos for food prep!
The BEST Raspberry Cinnamon Rolls (video)
Ingredients
For Dough:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 cup cream or half-and-half or whole milk
For Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup freeze-dried raspberries
- 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
For Icing:
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the dough. Warm the milk in the microwave or on the stove top until lukewarm, not hot! Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar. Sprinkle the dry yeast over the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Next, whisk in the melted butter (make sure it’s not too hot!), eggs and salt. Whisk for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth, then begin adding the flour.
- Add the flour 1 cup (125 g) at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once a dough ball forms, transfer the dough onto a flour work surface. Knead in the remaining flour, forming a soft and elastic dough; it should be just slightly sticky. Knead for 3 to 4 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to proof in a warm corner of the kitchen for 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cream cheese filling. Place the cream cheese into a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 to 45 seconds; the cream cheese needs to be very soft. Next, add the sugars, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk all the ingredients together for a few minutes until smooth.
- Once the dough has proofed, turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 30 seconds, just to get the large air pockets out of the dough. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a large rectangle measuring approximately 14×18-inches (36×46-cm). Using an off-set spatula, spread the prepared cream cheese filling evenly to the very edges of the dough.
- Top the cream cheese with a light layer of crumbled freeze-dried raspberries, then add small dollops of the raspberry preserves evenly spread out. Starting at the long end, gently roll the dough into a large log. Using a sharp, serrated knife, gently slice the log into 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick slices. Transfer the rolls into a large casserole dish.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/177C. Allow the rolls to proof in the pan for about 30 to 40 minutes. I usually set the rolls onto the stove while the oven is preheating for extra warmth. Bake the rolls for exactly 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and pour the 1/2 cup cream or milk (either cream, whole milk or half-and-half will work) over the cinnamon rolls. Place the rolls back into the oven and continue baking for an additional 25 to 28 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
- Prepare the glaze for the rolls: combine the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl and whisk until a smooth glaze forms. Add more lemon juice for a runnier glaze. Drizzle a generous amount of the glaze over the rolls as soon as you remove them from the oven, then add more after the rolls have cooled. Top with more freeze-dried raspberries, if desired.
- For Make-Ahead Rolls: prepare the recipe as written, shaping the rolls and placing them into a casserole dish. Allow the rolls to proof for 15 to 20 minutes, then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator. Chill the rolls for 1 to 3 days, until ready to enjoy. Preheat the oven to 350F/177C and continue with the recipe as written.
- Enjoyed this recipe? Please consider leaving me a comment or rating review below to help my blog!
